What the Heart Desires
by x.ethereal
Summary: Emmeline never expected to find herself attracted to James Potter. She'd never planned it- for years she'd only tried to convince Lily to like him back. But when her mother intervenes, Emmeline finds herself stuck between two choices.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, except for my own OCs.

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"You're late."

The heavily cloaked young man stood in front of her, his wand gripped tightly in his left hand as he stared at her from beneath his dark hood. She could not make out any of his features but she did not care; he was neither important nor worthy of wasting her time. She was only here on orders from her Master, who believed this man had the answers to something he held valuable to him.

"I apologize Madame Vance-"

She cut him off with a sharp glance, before turning around on her heel and marching down the empty street. Scarcely anyone patrolled the London streets at so late an hour, and more so, it was New Year's Eve. Muggle families were shut up in their homes dancing to the wild, loud music that she heard drifting in from between the walls of the flats on either side of her. Bright, colorful posters encouraging shoppers to buy decorations and New Year's Gifts were plastered all over the windows of all the shops she passed. She moved swiftly past them without a second glance; Muggle matters weren't important to her. Tonight, she had only one thing upon her mind.

The sky was clear. Not a single cloud covered it, and only a bright, full moon shone down upon London. The air was cold and dry, accompanied by the howl of the cold January wind as it whipped across her face. She cursed herself for not waiting in the Leaky Cauldron as Emily had suggested. Now, she had to face this accursed wind. Angrily, she quickened her pace, causing the young man who had been tottering behind her to pant as he tried to keep up.

"Where are we going?"

"_Silence_, you impudent fool." Her snarl cut through the sharp air and instantly quieted the fool behind her. How dare he speak to her like she was some lowly mudblood? He would not speak to her in that tone ever again, nor would he address her without calling her "Madame", first- yes, she would see to that soon enough.

Rounding the corner of the cobbled street, she found herself plunged into a dark, empty alleyway. Muttering "Lumos" she continued to make her way down the alley, stopping when she got to the end of it. In front of her stood a stone wall, covered in bright red, faded graffiti and cracks. "Keep your wits about you," she reminded herself. This was no time to lose her head and unleash an Avada Kedavra on the neighborhood around her. No, tonight the Dark Lord awaited something that was of much higher importance.

She tapped her wand over the wall, murmuring words underneath her breath. As she pulled her cloak tighter around her, she watched as the wall broke down to reveal a large, handsome manor behind it. Smiling slightly to herself, she paraded through the iron gates that had magically sprouted in front of her and hurried down the garden. "Do hurry up, Knightly," she uttered to the man behind her. He was straddling along after her, his mouth open in astonishment as he gazed at the splendor of the manor in which she lived.

And why wouldn't he? She thought to herself, gazing at her magnificent home with pride and pleasure. It was truly a sight, almost four stories high, made of pure red brick and dark, glossy mahogany wood. The marble pillars that supported the large building made way for an elegant wooden door, on which was carved a silver snake. She traced the surface of the snake with her hands, smiling as she did so. The mark and emblem of Slytherin house. Of course her husband was oblivious to such a thing. He was too busy handling all the important Ministry affairs at work, and he hardly ever paid any attention to her decorations and architectural designs. Yet she didn't mind. She had a husband who, if not extremely attentive, was besotted by her and a fortune that anyone would kill to have. What more could she want? Oh, only the Dark Lord's approval of course. Then, there would be nothing else left to desire.

Her hand twisted the doorknob around and she entered the lobby of her home. She relaxed as she entered her home, her haven, her castle. A dark, small maid came hurrying up to her, clutching a wooden hanger between her slim fingers. "Evening ma'am," she murmured, bobbing a little curtsey and reaching out to take her coat from her, "I hope you had a lovely night."

"It was fair. Is Vincent home?"

"No, Madame. Master Vincent came home to have tea and then left to the Ministry again. Would you like Edie to make you some tea or coffee?"

"Yes. Bring them up to my office. And don't forget to add a bottle of Firewhisky. I have a guest tonight." She gestured over her shoulder to Knightly, who was still looking around with an expression of shock. "Take his coat and then send him up to my office."

"As you wish, Madame," the maid murmured and turned to go before she stopped her once more.

"Oh and Nastia?"

"Yes, Madame?"

"Where is Emmeline?"

"She's up in her room, ma'am. I think she's sending letters to her friends."

With a curt nod, she nodded to the maid and then turned around to head down the dimly lit corridor that made way for her study, or office as she preferred to call it. It shamed her that her pure-blood daughter bothered to waste away her precious hours sending useless letters to her mudblood best friends at school, when she could be winning the Dark Lord's praise like her own mother did. Time and time again she had warned Emmeline to stray from those who were not worthy of her high status, but her daughter had only rudely answered her back. She did not understand what had caused Emmeline to turn out so…different. She had given her everything: schooling, money, a splendiferous home and had tried to mold her into a respectable Slytherin pureblood girl. But what had happened?

Emmeline had defied everything. Rather than entering the respected and most noble house of Slytherin that she, her mother, held so high, she had entered Gryffindor. Shame had burned all over her body when she had heard of the scandal. And worse, she had refused to befriend any of her own mother's choices. Her friends were all lowly Mudbloods and Muggles that only ground the family's name into dirt. Yet she knew that in time, Emmeline would realize her mistakes and return to her mother with apologies. Yes, soon enough Emmeline would understand the true value of being born a pure-blood.

A satisfied smile crept up onto her face as she unlocked her study door and entered it, leaving it ajar for Knightly to enter through. She smoothed down her skirt and blouse, and ran a hand through her trademark brown hair. She looked around her office and smiled, before sitting down on her desk.

Vincent had let her design it herself. The walls were painted a soft cream, with an intricate red and gold pattern. She had bought several handmade rugs and filled up the wooden floor with them, and a diamond chandelier hung in the middle of the painted ceiling. Behind her mahogany desk was her wooden bookcase, filled with all her Dark Arts books and Transfiguration articles. Her desk was a mess of Daily Prophet newspapers, glossy Ministry brochures, feathered quills and discarded ink bottles. She hastily tried to tidy it up before Knightly walked through. She knew it was always better to look neat and tidy for a prey before you stalked. She managed a rueful smile as he entered the room, managed to contain his surprise, and sat down in one of the leather chairs that were in front of her desk.

"Well," she began, regarding him carefully, "Perhaps you would like a drink before we begin?"

On cue, Edie, her house-elf, entered the room carrying a steaming vat of tea, a bottle of firewhisky, several mugs and glasses and a pot of sugar. She bowed low after placing the tray on the table and then walked out, shutting the door behind her. Knightly turned his beady gaze upon her and then reached for the firewhisky. Pouring himself half a glass, he settled back into his seat and raised the glass to his lips, before smiling with satisfaction.

It took all of her courage not to kill him there and then. He was so at ease when he should have been shaking with fear. She wasn't Lord Voldemort's most loyal servant for nothing after all. She was gifted with a knowledge of the dark arts that no witch of her age could surpass. But she knew she had to act like a gracious host until she forced the information out of him. She attempted a grimace, and then wiped her mouth with a tissue. Pouring herself a cup of tea, she looked at Knightly with cool eyes.

"Now Marius, you must know why I summoned you here tonight."

He spluttered slightly. "Yes."

She raised a hand to silence him. "Do not interrupt me, Marius."

His mouth shut instantly.

"I believe and of course the Dark Lord believes, that there was a prophecy made that might…shall we say, interfere with his plans. This has come from one of our head sources, you see. And seeing as you work in the Department of Mysteries, the Dark Lord wanted me to talk to you, to see if you know anything about the prophecy. Not to mention, you once came very close to joining my Lord, didn't you?"

Marius' face twisted into an ugly grimace as he took in her words. She smirked to herself and lazily pulled out her wand. She twisted it around in her hands, all the while pinning him with her deathly stare. Marius finally broke eye contact and stared down at his hands. She could see them shaking and smiled once more. She was pleased to be the cause of all the terror in the room.

"I…know nothing-"

"Oh Marius." She waved her wand in the direction of the door, locked it and then looked at him with a knowing glance. "Don't bother. You and I both know that you know a lot more than you're letting on. Am I correct?" She smiled sweetly at him and then flicked her wand in the direction of a small, tawny owl that was perched on the top of her Sneakescope. The owl gave a small screech and then fell to the ground. It lay there limp.

Marius' face had turned pale. His lips were parched as he looked at her in terror. Licking his lips, he struggled to find words. "I do know…some things, yes…"

"Marius. I do not have all night. Do hurry up."

"I was lucky enough to be in the presence of Albus Dumbledore a few years ago when he and Zelda Juneau- you know her, the Seer? A relation of Sybill Trelawney- were making the prophecy. I happened to pass by and I heard…a few things. I don't recall them that well-"

"_Crucio_."

Marius fell to the ground at the sound of the curse. He began to writhe in pain, his pale face contorted in agony. He screamed loudly, as he clawed at the floor in desperation. Unimpressed, she leaned back in her chair and shook her head. "Dear, dear Marius. I shall be forced to inflict worse than the Cruciatus curse if you do not cooperate. And know this- the Dark Lord's punishments are of a far greater level than my own."

"Fine- FINE! I'll tell you the truth- STOP IT!"

She lifted the curse and waited expectantly.

"I heard Albus say that the child of two wizards would one day grow up to defeat Lord Vol-"

"_Do not speak his name_!"

"-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I wasn't able to learn much more afterwards- they sensed me and immediately Disapparated afterwards-"

"Their names?"

"Excuse me?"

"Their _names_, Marius. The woman and the man."

"I was not able to hear-"

"-I have means of forcing the truth out of you. Do not make me do it."

"I swear-"

"Cruc-"

"Lily Evans and James Potter!"

An expression of sudden shock passed over her face at his words. Her wand dropped with a clatter onto the wood of her table and she blinked slowly. Evans and Potter? She knew all about Lily Evans of course- the mudblood Gryffindor girl who was (unfairly she knew) a brilliant student at Hogwarts. More than that, she was Emmeline's friend. Her brow furrowed as she thought of James Potter. What did she know of him? A pure-blood yes- his family were a very old one, descended from a legendary Wizarding family and exceedingly wealthy. The Dark Lord would be pleased with the information she had managed to gather, and she would assure him of the fact that she would take care of the situation.

"Yes my dear Emmeline- you shall finally learn the value of your mother," she murmured to herself. Emmeline would be an enormous addition to the plan of course. She would use her daughter well and earn more than just the Dark Lord's approval. She would be honored above all others. Emmeline would learn how to be manipulative…yes, she would learn.

"Can I- leave now?"

Marius had risen to his feet and was edging slowly towards the door. She glanced up at him, her eyes full of malice and excitement. She had all she needed. Now, what do with him? She glanced down at her dropped wand and smiled. Of course. The perfect solution.

She rose up from her chair and walked towards the cowering young man. "The Dark Lord will be most pleased, Marius. Of course, now that I have all I need, there is no reason for you to remain here any longer. Why, I don't think there's any reason for you to live anymore, do you?"

The relaxed expression that had begun to creep across his face was instantly replaced by one of sudden terror. "What- you don't mean-"

Her face did not change as she registered his pleas and moans. She turned around and began to walk out of the room. She stopped at the door to turn around and point her wand in his direction. Silently, the curse streamed out of her wand, hitting him squarely in the chest. Hearing a thump, she nodded to herself and walked out of her study, closing the door behind her soundly.

"Nastia? I have a dead corpse for you to clean up in my office."

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If you like it or dislike it, or just want to give some constructive criticism, please _review_! :)

Alsoo, I do hope you've enjoyed it.


	2. Letters and Lectures

**Chapter One: Letters and Lectures**

_Lily,___

_She's not compromising. She's been staring at me like I'm some sudden angel or something whenever we eat dinner. I don't know what on Earth she's thinking of using me for now. Yesterday I saw_

Emmeline Sarah Vance, sixteen years of age, blessed with good looks, fortune and a witty mind, paused in the process of finishing her letter to think for a moment. She stuffed the quill she had been doodling with on the scraps of parchment that were scattered all over her desk into her mouth and then choked, spitting out a flurry of feathers. She had gotten into the habit of chewing her quill (or anything that happened to come into her hands) after spending Christmas with Lily, who had had a large assortment of pens regularly in her house. Quills, she had however discovered upon returning home, were not nearly as satisfying as chewing the top of an ink ball pen.

She thought about crumpling the paper up and throwing it into the bin near her. She looked over at it and spying the fact that it was already over flowing with discarded parchments, sighed heavily. She didn't know what to write. She didn't want to scare Lily into thinking that her mother was up to something again so that Lily would start a huge lecture and start blaming herself for the distant relationship Emmeline shared with her mother. But Lily had always been like that: lecturing, kind and full of guilty pretence on other people's behalf. It was just one of those qualities that made Lily, Lily.

Emmeline sat back in her chair and stared out of the open window in front of her. It was the end of the Christmas holidays and the view outside of her window was a picturesque mixture of falling white snow that was sprinkled all over the gardens that made up Vance Manor. Far in the distance she caught a glimpse of the Gothic church that was the signature landmark of Desmond Hills, clashing furiously against the pale, empty blue sky with its dark color. She hated coming home but she knew it was worthless to complain after all these years. Lily had taught her to understand that home was home, no matter what your parents were like.

Returning back to her letter, she sighed once more and crumpled up the piece of parchment in front of her and threw it behind her. She took out a fresh piece of parchment from her drawer and picked up her quill.

_Sarah's been fine. Can't wait to see you in school.___

_Emmeline_

She decided that short was best and folded it up. She knew Lily would not approve of calling her own mother Sarah, but she didn't care. Infuriating Lily had always been something she and Ivy had particularly enjoyed. Seeing Lily angry and flurried was almost as fun as watching James beg her to go with him to Hogsmeade every weekend. She smiled a little, remembering James' previous tactics in November. "I love you James," she giggled, recalling how he always made her laugh whenever she was being moody over a letter she received from Sarah during school.

Her eyes strayed to Lily's creased letter on her desk. She had briefly skimmed through it when Nastia had dropped it in her room earlier.

_Dearest Emmy,___

_You don't know how much I miss you now that you've left! I only have Petunia to talk to now! I'm starting to lose hope that we'll ever get along, even though I wish for it so badly. Remember all those pictures I used to show you of Tuney and I when we were little? But no matter. At least she doesn't push me around so often now. Her head's been filled with some stupid talk about some boy called Vernon lately. She's bringing him round for Mum and Dad to meet today. Now, that_should_be fun!___

_James has still refused to give up his letters. I've gotten about twenty six ones of them already, one for every day of December. I'm starting to think about actually giving him a chance, just so he'll get sick of me and then stop pestering me with all these letters. Why can't he like someone else? Potter is incapable of understanding the word_"no"_.___

_Oh, well. I've been busy while you've left, finishing all my holiday work! I've started revising for our end of year too, because you know how hard our exams will be this year. Accompanied with all my Head Girl duties, I'm only surprised that I haven't gone mad yet!___

_I miss all of you so much though, especially you. Do give my love to Ivy and Mary if you see them.___

_Lots of love,___

_Lily_

Emmeline smiled as she put down the letter. She had always been grateful for the fact that she had a friend like Lily, someone who never judged her by her Pure-blood status. Lily wasn't of magical blood but that was precisely what Emmeline loved about her. Lily enjoyed the freedom of having a normal, loving, non-magical family who loved her no matter what, and didn't care who she befriended. Except for Petunia of course, but then again, she wasn't completely sane as Ivy so frequently put it.

Emmeline remembered all those years ago; when she had actually used to sit down and fantasize about her mother even turning out remotely like Lily's parents. Sarah had never acted like a proper mother. Oh, she had given Emmeline the best clothes and the best schooling, had taken her to all the most important balls and parties to make sure she stayed in a good social circle; but she had never cared. When she hadn't been dashing off to meet her mysterious employer, she had spent hours criticizing Emmeline's friends and the way she acted in school. Emmeline remembered her mother's face when she had found out that Emmeline had been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. She had been so furious that she had refused to look at her daughter for almost three weeks. "The shame!" she had gone around screaming. Sarah's life had purely revolved around her own position in society.

Her father was not much use either. He spent his days- and sometimes his nights too- working endlessly at the Ministry. He didn't care about her or her life; he was just focused on making as much money as possible to please himself and his wife. When he was home, he simply either ignored Emmeline or sat studying her as if she were a forensic piece of evidence that he had yet to identify. Emmeline had frequently longed to be able to open up to her father about her relationship with her mother but nay- he didn't care either.

Of course, after seventeen years, Emmeline didn't really care anymore either.

A knock at her door jerked her out of her thoughts. She hurried to stuff the letters into her drawer- if it was her mother, she really didn't fancy another lecture on befriending children of lower blood than she. Come to think of it however, Sarah hadn't been as lecturing as usual though. Emmeline didn't have time to ponder over it however, when her door creaked open and a small, thin figure shuffled in.

"Miss Emmeline, your mother requests your presence in the main parlor," Edie whispered softly, her hands clasped in front of her. Her huge glass ball eyes were fixed worriedly on Emmeline's face, as if she feared Emmeline would say no and she'd have to suffer another beating. Emmeline's face instantly softened and all thought of rejection immediately went out of her mind as she saw Edie. She didn't want the poor soul to writhe under the hand of her cruel mother.

"Don't worry Edie, I won't let her do anything to you today," she said kindly to the small house elf, smiling slightly at her, "Tell her I'll be down in a minute."

"As you wish, Miss Emmeline." Edie bobbed a curtsey and then vanished in a flash of smoke.

Emmeline stood up and yawned. She dumped the rest of her letters and stationary into the drawer and closed it, remembering to pocket the key. She hated it when Nastia went nosing through her drawers and then gave everything to Sarah. She looked up and moved closer to her window, resting her fingers on the cold glass. The cold temperature instantly soothed her feelings and she exhaled slowly before walking out of her room.

A trail of grey smoke issuing out of the hall instantly assured Emmeline that her mother was already sitting there. Sarah was not only infamous for her cruelty but her tendency to smoke a cigarette every five minutes. Emmeline struggled to hold her breath as she walked into the hall and faced her mother.

Without opening her mouth, Sarah eyed her daughter carefully. Emmeline watched as her mother's pale blue gaze roved over her- the same blue eyes she herself had inherited. After a minute of silence, Sarah stood up, flicked her cigarette into the trashcan and smoothed down her skirt. She moved closer to where her daughter sat, eased herself onto a plush armchair and crossed her legs. "Well?"

Emmeline sighed and tapped her foot impatiently on the floor. Great. For the next half hour she'd have to sit and endure Sarah's cat and mouse games. "Well what?" she answered, annoyed at her mother's stupid antics.

Sarah drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. "How is your friend Lily?" she asked, her lips twisting into a simpering smile. Emmeline eyed her mother warily. What game was she playing now? Sarah had never liked Lily; she had hated her for being a mudblood and more than that, for associating herself with Emmeline ("_But Emmy darling, you're a_pureblood!_And a_Vance!_It just goes against all logic!_").

"Mum, you and I both know that you don't give a damn about Lily. So save your breath and just come out with whatever you want to lecture me about. Leave Lily out of it." Emmeline knew that had she said such a thing a year ago, it most certainly would have earned her a slap across her face for being so rude. Yet Sarah did nothing now, but continue to smile forcefully.

"Now darling, that is hardly a way to talk to your mother. I've decided to take the high road and accept your friendship with this mud- I mean Muggle." For once, Sarah actually seemed sincere. There was no laughter or mockery in her eyes and there wasn't a smile playing around her lips like usual.

Emmeline crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows. "You have?"

Sarah blinked, an expression of mild hurt crossing her pretty face. "Of course, Emmy. Why would you think otherwise?"

Snorting, Emmeline dropped onto the chair opposite her mother's and shook her head slowly. She drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair and continued to observe Sarah with a disbelieving expression. "I'll tell you why. Let's start with the most basic of explanations: for the best part of seven years you have completely despised Lily and acted like she was a worthless little bug. Reason two? When you form an opinion on someone, mother, you generally tend to stick to it. Three? Whenever you act this nice around me, it's mostly because you require something in return. And seeing as you've decided to involve Lily in your niceties, I'm going to go ahead and assume that she's a big part of what you want in return. I'd go on, but I think I've made my point nicely, haven't I?" She smiled, satisfied with herself.

Sarah looked like she wanted to slap her. Her fingers were twitching and the smile on her lips was growing more forced by the second. She closed her eyes, breathed out slowly and seemed to regain her composure somewhat. She crossed her legs and looked at Emmeline silently for a moment before speaking.

"Whether you choose to believe me or not, I have decided to take the high road. And seeing as I'm your mother, I want to find out a little bit more about Lily- see if she's a good friend or not. And this time, my judgments shall be based purely on her personality rather than her blood status."

Emmeline closed her eyes and slowly let out a breath. She stood up and shook her head, rolling her eyes at her mother's theatrics. "Either you've had one too many butterbeers or you've just gone completely around the bend. I think I'm going to bed." She made to stand up but suddenly felt herself frozen, her legs frozen to the ground beneath her. She swiveled her neck around to glare at her mother, her eyes narrowing.

"I've been told that you catch more flies with honey, than you do with vinegar," Sarah began, standing up slowly and striding over to her, "But I'm not going to bother with that anymore." She glared at Emmeline and her hand twitched, as if she meant to slap her, but she regained control of herself and simply sighed. "The next visit you have to Hogsmeade, I want to see you and your little mudblood friend in my living room. No questions asked." She released Emmeline and Emmeline felt herself stagger a little from the power of the spell. She rubbed her forearms and made to utter back a sarcastic remark but Sarah instantly silenced her.

"One more word, Emmeline…"

Emmeline glared at her mother and then turned around, muttering beneath her breath, "I'll say more than a word to her if she doesn't shut up soon…like _hell_ I'll bring Lily to meet her…" She placed her hand on the banister and started climbing the stairs, yet Sarah's voice stopped her once more.

"Oh and Emmy?"

"Merlin, what do you want from me now?" She knew it was disrespectful to be so rude to her mother, but Sarah was just insufferable. Emmeline was sick of her games and she just wanted to be out of there as soon as possible.

"Disobey me and you never speak to your mudblood friend again, is that understood? I'll personally make sure of that." Emmeline waited for the sickeningly sweet reply that was to come, the thing that Sarah always said after making a particularly nasty comment.

"Sweet dreams, darling."

Emmeline slammed her bedroom door closed.


	3. New Year's Resolutions

If there was one thing Emmeline hated more than spending Christmas at home, it was spending New Year's Eve with her family.

Or, more specifically, the whole of the Ministry of Magic.

Emmeline never really understood the need for Sarah to host such extravagant balls year after year, simply to welcome in the New Year. She knew Lily's family and their muggle friends frequently held parties but none of them held a candle to Sarah's. Emmeline knew her mother didn't do it out of a sense of celebration or friendship; Sarah was purely interested in vainly showing off all her exquisite antiques and her expensive home to her guests.

It didn't help that the house had to be decorated so extremely too. Emmeline had woken up every single day to the chattering of house-elves from the floors below her, all of them rushing around in blurs to make sure all the decorations were in place for Sarah's ball. For one, Sarah insisted that all the lawns be freshly mowed and all the gardens planted with fresh supplies of roses and violets. An array of fountains was then placed in the garden and the entire frontier of the house was scrubbed so hard that the marble pillars, floors and walls glittered in the sunlight. Sarah would then have to meticulously plan the dinner entrees- full seven course meals, complete with imported Italian donuts dipped in chocolate, and make sure that she had every kind of veal, chicken and turkey available at the table.

In short, Emmeline despised winter time at Vance Manor.

She watched with bored eyes as another carriage pulled up to the manor and an old man stepped out, his bowler hat covering his whole face. She tried to see the invisible thestral that was pulling it but all she could see was the tracks of the creature on the snow as it moved away again. She desperately wanted to see a real thestral; she had always thought of them as elegant, majestic creatures despite always being associated with death. Having never witnessed someone dying, however, she was unable to see them.

The door of her bedroom opened and her mother stepped in, wearing an elegant black gown and a thick diamond necklace. Her brown locks were coiled around her head in a tight plait and her blue eyes were heavily made up. She pursed her glossy pink lips when she saw Emmeline still sitting on her toilette, her chin in her hands. "Aren't you ready yet? The party is going to start at any moment."

Emmeline rolled her eyes and sighed. "Can't I just stay up here? You know I don't even want to be down there."

Sarah sighed and her eyes searched the room for Emmeline's gown. Spotting it stuffed behind the curtains, she strode over and pulled it out, the lines on her forehead growing more pronounced. "Now look what you've done to your dress you stupid girl! And after Nastia stayed up two nights trying to make sure every crease was ironed. I'll have to do the best I can and I'm already late." She started running her hands down the front of the dress and murmuring something beneath her breath. Emmeline watched in silent fascination as every crease and rumple in the dress disappeared. Sarah looked critically down at her handiwork and then sighed, tossing it back onto the bed. "It'll have to do."

Moving swiftly, Sarah moved so that she was behind her daughter, and began lifting up strands of her dark blonde hair, her eyebrows crinkling as she thought of a hairstyle. Inspiration striking her, she picked up a soft brush and ran it quickly through Emmeline's curls. In a few minutes she had drawn her hair up into a high ponytail and then sleeked it back with a strong smelling gel. Emmeline howled with pain as her mother roughly pulled out loose strands of hair from the tight ponytail, and glared at her reflection. "Ever thought of a career in hairstyling, mum?" she said sarcastically. Sarah pointedly ignored her and started dabbing make-up onto her face hurriedly, moaning every now and again that Emmeline was ruining her gorgeous gown by making her apply powder to her.

"Well, I never _asked_ you to do it!" Emmeline answered crossly, pulling away finally after Sarah had released her and looking at her reflection.

Despite her mother's rough grip, Emmeline had to give her credit for her beautician's eye. She certainly looked a lot better than before; she finally agreed with Lily's statement that her hair looked better pulled back than curling around her face. The soft make up that Sarah had applied made her look better too: the pale blue eye shadow had definitely brought out her blue eyes, and the soft pink blush and lipstick didn't make her look as sallow and pale as usual. Sarah stood back and surveyed her handiwork, then nodded at her and went, remembering to call behind her, "And wear your dress, mind you!"

Disgruntled, Emmeline went forward and picked up the bright pink dress gingerly. She generally hated pink; it made her feel babyish and stupid, and it made her look paler than usual. Sirius frequently remarked that she looked exactly like a porcelain doll. "Except, of course," he said once, after seeing her come out wearing a blue gown in honor of Lily's birthday party, "A porcelain doll doesn't usually look as happy as you do. You need to look a bit more solemn, see-" His remark had cost him the privilege of an unbroken nose. Now, Emmeline sat looking t the dress with an expression of utter distaste and annoyance. Trust her mother to pick out the worst possible color for her to wear.

Mary would probably have said it was a gorgeous dress. It was pretty: it came up to her knees and had a heart-shaped neckline and a full skirt, with soft sparkles on the front of it. The straps were quite thin ("Great, everyone will see my fat arms") and there was a large crimson ribbon tied around the waist. Sarah had placed a pearl necklace next to it, accompanied with pearl earrings and high heeled bright pink shoes. Emmeline glared at them. It was her custom to live in trainers and trainers only; heels were stupid and caused her to twist her ankles for no reason. She was fully prepared to blame her mother entirely for the injury that she would sustain tonight.

She still put on the dress and shoes.

Emmeline forbade herself from looking in the mirror: she didn't need to assure herself that she looked like a plump pig anyways. She jammed the earrings onto her earlobes and clasped the necklace around herself and hurried downstairs. With any luck, she could easily steal into the kitchen and hide herself there for the rest of the ball. Like Sarah would ever know.

Unfortunately, a thick, beefy hand landed on her shoulder just as soon as she entered the ballroom and Emmeline swore beneath her breath. She turned around and plastered a fake smile on her face at the large man standing in front of her. "Where are you going?" Vincent Vance asked her suspiciously.

Emmeline did not resemble her father in the least. Her father was short and stocky; Emmeline was tall and plump rather than square shaped. Vincent had straight, sleek black hair and small brown eyes; Emmeline was blonde and had inherited her mother's eyes. Needless to say, Emmeline was not as money obsessed as her father, nor did she have the same ardent love for work as he did. She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and looked nervously around her, hoping her mother wasn't around. "To the kitchen. I hate her stupid parties; you know I do."

Vincent did know, but he didn't very much care. All he knew was that his unruly daughter had refused to listen to her mother for one time too many; he gripped her arm and shook his head at her. "Emmeline, you're going to stay here and socialize. If you don't start building strong acquaintances with these Ministry folk, you'll never get a job like mine. And you want to work in my department don't you?" Vincent was head of the Department for the Improper Use of Magic.

"No. I want to be an Auror."

Appearing not to have heard her, Vincent dragged her away back into the ballroom and was about to leave when he saw her annoyed expression. "Oh, cheer up Emmy. I heard a few of your friends will be here."

By "friends" Emmeline knew her father was either referring to recent Hogwarts graduates that had found Ministry jobs, or some of his colleagues' six year old children. She sighed to herself and walked over to the window, sitting nimbly down on the window ledge. She dangled her legs absentmindedly and looked with mild curiosity at the people milling around her.

Most of them did work at the Ministry. Emmeline easily spotted Edwina Moore, one of her father's co-workers, giggling furiously at a joke that her husband's colleagues had made. She wasn't a very bright witch- Emmeline could plainly recall the numerous times Vincent had come home, muttering angrily about Edwina's blunders at work- and Emmeline wondered how on Earth she was still working in that Department. If she were in Vincent's place, she would have put in an appeal any day now for Edwina's dismissal.

She could also spot many of her mother's so-called friends (Emmeline knew Sarah didn't have any friends: she despised the women she associated with, and kept them around only to show off how much money she had) - Eliza Elliot, Fanny Brown and Rose Winters. They all reminded her exceedingly of Sarah: they were all Slytherin alumni, exquisitely beautiful and vain, and they were all married to rich heads of department at the Ministry. Emmeline despised them almost as much as they despised each other.

She turned her attention to a tall, lanky boy who was standing near the chocolate fountain looking extremely bored. He was dipping a biscuit into the liquid chocolate every few seconds but he appeared uninterested; his gaze was fixed on the wall in front of him. Emmeline peered closer and took in his appearance. The jet black, messy hair and round glasses instantly distinguished him as no one other than James Potter.

At the sight of James, Emmeline instantly brightened up. She hurried over to him and tapped him on the shoulder happily, albeit a little confused. She knew the Potters attended her mother's ball religiously every single year, yet she didn't know why they had decided to bring James along this time too. He generally hated going to parties and wearing suits; like Emmeline, he preferred to stroll along in life wearing nothing but tee-shirts and jeans.

James turned around and smiled at her, his cheeks pink. She hugged him tightly and took his hand, dragging him away to where she had been sitting before asking him the question that had been gnawing at her silently. James took his seat next to her, pulled one of his knees up to his chin, and sat surveying her amusedly.

"James! Why in Merlin's name are you here?"

He shrugged at her and took off his glasses. He began to clean them absentmindedly, whilst watching groups of people waltz in front of him. "Dunno. Your mother sent my parents an invitation and requested that they specifically bring me along."

Emmeline felt confused. It was nice to know that Sarah had invited James- yet she knew her mother never did anything without good reason. She definitely had a motive behind it. "But James, you could have easily said no. Since when do you ever wear dress robes, even if it is to meet me?"

For a moment James stared at her in total surprise. Then he burst out laughing and slid an arm around her shoulders, shaking his head all the while. "Oh my darling Emmeline! You didn't think I wore dress robes for _you_, did you?"

"I liked to flatter myself with that thought for a few seconds, at least," she answered back sourly.

"But I would never do that, Emmy dear! You and I, we are helpless at the feet of a pair of jeans and a large, comfortable tee-shirt! We do not give them up easily. I would never wear dress robes just for you, Emmy- you're definitely not worth that great a sacrifice!" For a moment, Emmeline felt offended and then she started laughing. It was true some people would have found it offensive, and yet she had grown used to James' nature; part of what made her adore him was his unfailing satirical sense of humor.

She fixed her eyes on his and smiled slightly. "So who was worth committing such a great sacrifice for, James?"

He rolled his eyes and took his arm off her shoulder; opting instead to shove both his hands into his pockets while he searched the room. "I would've thought you'd guessed by now, Em," he told her, his eyes roving wildly around. Emmeline paused for a moment and then she looked at him in utter disbelief. "Have you gone mental, James? She's not even here! You wore dress robes to please the Lily in your _head_?"

James turned around to look at her, and an expression of mock hurt crossed over his handsome features. "I'm insulted to hear that you think so lowly of me, Emmeline, to think that I would go to all this effort to please a figment of my imagination. As a matter of fact, however," he added in a whisper, whilst winking at her, "She was very taken with me, you know and she instantly came and told me she loved me and then we-"

"_James_!" Emmeline doubled over laughing.

"Well, you know. Contrary to what you think, though, Lily was in fact invited."

"She was not, James. I've been telling my mother to invite her since I was eleven; she never does."

"Well, she did this time."

"And you would know, because…?"

James looked smug. "I know everything about my Lily-flower."

"And that sounds pathetic, in so many ways. Have you ever thought of having a career as a stalker?" Emmeline suggested.

"No really, she did invite her! I saw her parents. I said hello to them and told them that this time next year I'd be their son-in-law."

Emmeline dropped her jaw and shook her head. She didn't believe that the Evans were here and after James' words she definitely didn't. As if he would ever have the gall to say such a thing to Edward Evans' very face! "Of course you didn't, James."

"As a matter of fact, I did. And I will be. My plan is working nicely-"

"What plan?" Emmeline asked incredulously.

"To make Lily fall in love with me! You see, she's already realized that, but right now she's in denial. Give her a month or two and everything will be perfect," James informed her.

"In your _head_ maybe."

Ignoring her, James continued. "Right, so I told them that anyways. Mrs. Evans looked like she wanted to kill me, but I think they like me." He smiled and then looked at Emmeline's face, which still had an expression of suspicion on it. He took her hand and then started pulling her into the throng of chattering people, looking over his shoulder to say, "I'll take you to them, don't worry. They're talking to my parents right now; I think it's essential that they meet their future in-laws, you know?"

Rolling her eyes, Emmeline ignored him, but allowed herself to be pulled around by James. A few minutes later, she was standing a few feet away from the Evans and the Potters, both of which seemed to be having a very enjoyable conversation. James looked at them with satisfaction and turned to her. "I think I'll enjoy having family reunions," he told her.

"Mmm." Emmeline mused silently and looked around her to try to catch a glimpse of Lily. If James was saying the truth, then Lily must be here. "Are you sure she's here?" she asked impatiently, after being unable to find her after looking for almost five minutes.

"Would I wear dress robes otherwise?"

"You make a point." Still, despite James' reassuring words, Emmeline could not find Lily anywhere. She sighed and then stepped forward to go talk to Mrs. Evans, and perhaps finally learn of her daughter's whereabouts (fully ignoring James' cries of : "Oi! Don't barge in there! You could potentially ruin the foundations of this whole marriage!").

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Evans," Emmeline began, smiling at the man and woman sitting in front of her. "And hello Mr. and Mrs. Potter. I hope you're enjoying the party?" She most certainly did not hope that they were enjoying it; she hoped they despised it and wanted to leave as soon as possible so they could gossip about Sarah behind her back; her hopes were crushed when Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Potter nodded earnestly, each of them wearing huge smiles on their faces.

"Oh, it's wonderful my dear, it was so kind of your mother to invite us! It's our first wizard ball you know- we were so delighted when we got the invitation!" Mrs. Evans cried.

"Yes, we definitely were. It's as wonderful as every year, Emmeline," Mrs. Potter added warmly. She was a sweet old lady, who resembled Nana Graham quite a bit. She had James' hazel eyes and Emmeline knew that her hair had been jet black when she was young- there were still streaks of black every now and again in her silver hair. She wore glasses too, and her eyes were crinkled at the corners. Ever since James had pushed Emmeline over once in second year, Mrs. Potter had taken an instant liking to her.

"That's nice to know," Emmeline said, another fake smile stretching over her face. She hated it that her mother's parties were always a huge hit with everyone who attended; why didn't something ruin it for once? "I was wondering if either of you had seen Lily?"

A puzzled expression crossed over Mrs. Evans' face. "Of course I did, my dear. I left her at home. You didn't think she was here did you?"

Emmeline felt slightly down. She had wanted Lily to come so badly- it was always worth having Lily and James in the same room for longer than five minutes- but she was pleased that she would be able to convey the unhappy news to James. She regretted not having made a bet with him; she would have won a tidy sum of money. "Oh, someone told me she came. But why is she at home, Mrs. Evans?"

Mrs. Evans waved her hand absentmindedly. "Oh, she's got a slight cold, you know- I told you girls not to play around in the snow without wearing your scarves and hats!" Emmeline had the urge to point out that Lily was too embarrassed to go out wearing one of Petunia's old, frilly bobbly hats, but restrained herself. "She should be better before you go to Hogwarts, though, don't you worry," Mrs. Evans hastily added, assuming Emmeline's silence was because she was upset at the thought of going to Hogwarts without her best friend there.

"Oh, great! Tell her I hope she gets better! It was nice to talking to you," she added as an afterthought and with a hug to both of the old women and a wave to the men, she strode back to James, a self-satisfied smile upon her face. James was looking at her with mild curiosity, his hands still shoved in his pockets. "Well?"

"Well, I was right. Lily isn't here."

For the first time that evening, James wasn't looking smug. He looked faintly annoyed as he looked at Emmeline's face. "Of course she is. Why else would I wear this crap?" he muttered angrily, gesturing to his black fancy dress robes.

Grinning, Emmeline placed her finger on her chin. "I think I might have mentioned something about a figurative Lily a while back…"

"Oh, shut up." James looked sour. He ran a hand through his messy black hair and then looked around him with distaste. "I went through all this effort to look presentable and she doesn't even show up. Why do I bother?"

Emmeline felt sorry for him, looking so glum and depressed- so unlike his usual self. Even when Lily stung him with harsh words and outright declarations that she'd rather become friends with her old best friend Snape than go out with him, James still looked happy and carefree, his eyes bubbling over with excitement. Emmeline sometimes thought that James actually enjoyed being turned down by Lily; her rejections appeared to fuel him to go on in life. The thought of her not being at the ball however, had outright dismayed him. He was pulling off his tie angrily, and stabbing it beneath his foot, looking as if he wanted to stab everyone else in the room too.

"Oh, cheer up James. She didn't come because she was sick."

The expression on James' face was growing more murderous by the second. "Yeah, I bet she told her mother to say that because she knew I'd be here, didn't she?"

"James, Mrs. Evans wouldn't lie for her daughter's sake- at least not to me," she added hastily, as James threw her an incredulous look. "Lily probably is sick. We did spend quite a lot of time in the snow, you know, without hats and stuff-"

"She's a bloody witch; she could bloody cure herself in an instant! And she's of age too! She just didn't want to meet me. Why doesn't she just tell me that instead of hiding from me?"

Emmeline blinked. "She does. Every day."

James looked furiously back at her. "Thanks."

Feeling that she had created a greater wrong than right the one Lily had committed, Emmeline tried to smooth things over again. "I think you're overreacting. Instead of muttering about how she's not worth it- which you know she is- why don't you do something useful? Like send her a get well card or something? She might like it, you know. It'd be a change from your usual stupid antics-"

"They're not stupid! They're brilliant." He paused for a moment to mull over her words and suddenly, inspiration seemed to strike him. His eyes lit up again and he grinned at Emmeline again. "You know, you can be very smart when you put your mind to it, Vance."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Emmeline watched as James picked up his bedraggled tie, and then he leaned over, pressed a kiss on her cheek and gave her a quick hug, before winking. "I'll consider changing my tactics," he told her, "In the meantime; you might want to have a chat with Sirius." He winked once more and then Disapparated.

Feeling annoyed and foolish, Emmeline stamped around the room, looking for Sirius Black, shoving people out of the way and not caring when they attempted to stop her and tell her to apologize for being so rude. Spotting him in the corner of the room, engaged in a conversation with a tall, beautiful dark haired girl, Emmeline stomped over and slapped his arm to get his attention.

"_What?_" Sirius said, turning and looking at her with annoyance etched on his face. "If you must know, I was having a very interesting conversation." Emmeline rolled her eyes angrily at him and looked at the girl next to him. She dropped her jaw when she realized that it was Hestia Jones, who was staring at her with a complacent expression.

"WHY DON'T YOU ALL EVER TELL ME WHEN YOU COME TO THESE BLOODY THINGS?"


End file.
